| You Had Me at 'WWW:' Realizing Your Website Potential |
By Patrick Cahill The up-to-date view is that websites are the best marketing investment a firm can make. If you don’t have a website your firm is proud of – don’t spend another dollar on marketing and sales efforts, period. Why? You are getting as little as one-third of the potential from marketing. Why one-third? RainToday.com’s 2009 research report, How Clients Buy, found that two-thirds of prospects decide whether or not to contact your firm based on the impression of your firms’ website. Deals are won and lost before you even know your firm has a shot. If your website does not represent your firm well, you are losing up to two-thirds of the leads your marketing dollars are working hard to generate. In fact, at this very moment, a prospect is on your firm’s website…
W-W-Wrong “Our website is not a priority. Our business runs on relationships, not websites.” Many professional services firms don’t understand the importance of their website. They think websites are primarily a consumer market tool or simply a brochure. Sure, your website may not have shopping carts and its impact on your business can’t be measured in transaction volume per day, but a quality website will help your service firm grow. In How Clients Buy, RainToday.com found that:
These numbers are huge! Every day, your firm’s website is determining if a prospect calls to learn more. A poorly implemented web presence can make your phone ring two-thirds less than it should. Firms with poorly implemented and managed websites can cling to the hope that their websites are not driving prospects away – but they know that they are not pulling prospects closer. E-gage the Prospect A website is no replacement for the talented individuals that make up your firm. They are the ones who will ultimately sell your deals. But your website will drive those sales conversations. To promote this, you must engage your web visitors with free downloads, articles, an eNewsletter, or a simple “contact us” form. For each of these, collect basic contact info so you can:
I worked with a management consulting client to create a new website. The original site consisted of a dated design, limited calls to action, and “hidden” pieces of thought leadership. The new site engaged visitors by emphasizing the company’s thought leadership. The design of the site was refreshed, copy rewritten, and articles shared for “free” in exchange for the prospect’s contact information. The new site, once launched, saw immediate results, with an over 200% increase in leads generated through the website. This ten-person firm now receives close to 1,000 web leads a year. While not all leads have an immediate need, the firm is using their website to capture prospect information and generate conversations. The time spent maintaining the website, providing frequent updates, eNewsletters, and quality content has positioned the firm, rightfully, as a world leader in their field. The Website, “The Core” of Your Marketing and Sales  Taking the time to create a strong web presence provides the solid core needed to build a strong marketing engine. Each part of your marketing mix will feed the others, with the website playing the central role in most activities, whether intended or not – since two-thirds of your prospects decide whether or not to contact your firm based on the impression of your firms’ website. You must assume that your website influences the overall success of every marketing campaign you implement. For example: The president of a target company finds your website, which generates a positive perception of your firm, and signs up for your eNewsletter. A few months later, your eNewsletter highlights a conference at which a partner of your firm is speaking. The prospect then attends the conference where he hears of an article, written by the same partner. He subsequently downloads it and emails the partner with a question. The conversation begins. Your marketing mix will just not reach its full potential, as little as 20% of that potential, without a strong website. It Takes a Village “Our website is up. We did it. Don’t have to worry about that thing for two years. What a relief!” Websites can not be static – it must evolve as your firm does. As it does, an associate or assistant can not be the sole caretaker of the website after it’s been redesigned and launched. Posting press releases does not make for an evolving, engaging website. For this reason, consistent support from all ranks is what will lead to success: Subject matter experts must be willing to write new content on a reliable schedule; client leaders should prepare case studies post-delivery; marketing should prepare announcements and send out the eNewsletter on a monthly basis. The effort must be coordinated and managed at a high level or the website will become dated and lose value…and business. This will be a challenge; everyone has “day jobs.” The key is to demonstrate the influence and impact of the website early on to key “buy in” from all contributors. Share collected data on visitors, downloads, “contact us” submissions, and the resulting opportunities to get and keep contributors aware of the impact they are making. Reload
Acknowledging the potential of your website and committing the appropriate resources to develop it will lead to your firm receiving the full potential of your marketing investment – and capturing prospects at ‘WWW.’ Patrick R. Cahill is a principal at Rally Point Webinars who specializes in marketing, business operations, and CRMs. Click here to email Patrick. |